Letters to the Editor | Oct. 2, 2022

Once again, Jennifer Stefano gives incomplete information and arrives at a faulty conclusion. She looks at the struggle of Daniel Nansi to find a satisfactory middle school for his 13-year-old daughter. The local school, James Rhoads, has a 5.3% proficiency in math and a 17.6% proficiency in language arts. Understandably, he is upset. Stefano then describes his search through charter schools, and how lucky they are to find the Mathematics, Civics and Sciences Charter School. Stefano then fails to mention that the Mathematics, Civics and Science Charter only has a 12% proficiency in math and a 34% proficiency in language arts.

There are public schools other than the neighborhood catchment schools or the poorly performing charter school that Nansi could have looked at. For example, AMY Northwest has a language arts proficiency of 63%. General George A. McCall School has a math proficiency of 67% and a language arts proficiency of 78%. All of this data from district public schools make Stefano’s data favoring the charter school unfounded. Yet none of the above data tells the complete story either. Education research shows that test scores for children are determined more by parents’ incomes and zip codes than any other factor. More funding needs to be pumped into schools serving financially disadvantaged children, along with more resources and more teachers. Draining the public schools’ coffers to support charter schools is a smokescreen to avoid facing the issue honestly.

Mardys Leeper, Villanova

I empathize with Alison McCook, who recounts the emotional and physical difficulties in caring for her mom dying from ALS. I, too, have cared for a dying family member, and as a physician, I have seen dying in many families.

While I share the pain of seeing a loved one suffer and die, I do not share the opinion that the remedy involves killing the loved one, nor allowing the sufferer to kill themselves.

When someone is dying, it’s important to be clear about its cause. Medical professionals understand this well. Many make a distinction between allowing a process to run its course while alleviating pain and suffering along the way and making an intervention that causes the sufferer’s death.

Pushback against legalization of aid-in-dying, and an answer to McCook’s question as to why Pennsylvania has not enacted such laws, resides in a foundational and enduring ethos among many that physicians should not kill their patients.

John M. Travaline, Perkasie

Attacks on reproductive rights reflect a disdain for women. If men could get pregnant, abortion rights wouldn’t be at risk. Men wouldn’t accept forced medical risks and the financial costs of pregnancy and parenthood.

Politicians who protested mask mandates want government control over women’s reproduction. COVID-19 is a public health crisis where our behavior affects others; abortion is a personal, medical decision.

Ensuring women’s equality requires electing candidates who support reproductive rights.

As governor, Josh Shapiro would veto extreme abortion restrictions and support laws codifying reproductive rights; Doug Mastriano supports abortion bans, declaring women’s control over their bodies “ridiculous nonsense.” As senator, John Fetterman would support abortion rights nationally; Mehmet Oz equates abortion with murder.

State legislators supporting abortion rights will prevent bans from reaching the governor or being proposed as constitutional amendments.

Voting has never been more important for women’s lives.

Sheri Berenbaum, State College, Pa.

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